Mindful Balance Blog

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This blog has a simple aim: to support Mindfulness Meditation practice as a way to support personal development, increase wellness and reduce stress. It contains quotes and reflections to encourage meditation, some practical guidance if you are just starting, as well as occasional reflections on psychology, spirituality & life.

The sun shines day after day without fail, yet if clouds appear to make the sky overcast, it can’t be seen. It still comes up in the east every morning and goes down in the west. The only difference is that you can’t see it because it’s hidden behind the clouds. The sun is your original mind, the clouds are your illusions. You are unaware of this mind because it’s covered by illusions and can’t be seen. But you never lose it, not even when you go to sleep.

The unborn mind that your mothers have given you is thus always there, wonderfully clear and bright and illuminating.

Bankei Yōtaku (1622-1693), Rinzai Zen master,

who emphasized our original nature or inner aliveness, which he terms the Unborn

The peace that we are looking for is not peace that crumbles as soon as there is difficulty or chaos. Whether we’re seeking inner peace or global peace or a combination of the two, the way to experience it is to build on the foundation of unconditional openness to all that arises.

Peace isn’t an experience free of challenges, free of rough and smooth, it’s an experience that’s expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened.

Give up defining yourself – to yourself or to others. You won’t die. You will come to life. And don’t be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it’s their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don’t be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.

Non-doing has nothing to do with being indolent or passive. Quite the contrary. It takes great courage and energy to cultivate non-doing, both in stillness and in activity. Nor is it easy to make a special time for non-doing and to keep at it in the face of everything in our lives which needs to be done.